No. 01
Verbal change orders
“While you’re in there, can you also...” Three weeks later, they claim they never authorized the extra work. Seal the ask on-site or on the phone, in 60 seconds.
For contractors & trades
Every change order. On the record.
The fights at the end of a job almost always trace back to what was 'said' during the job. Pactbound seals every verbal adjustment as a sealed, identity-verified acknowledgment: tamper-evident, verifiable by anyone, so the punch-list walk-through isn't where the job goes sideways.
Where jobs go sideways
The four fights that show up at the back end of every job.
No. 02
Scope interpretation fights
The contract said “upgrade electrical.” They thought that included rewiring the garage. You didn’t. Seal each clarification as it happens.
No. 03
Punch-list disputes at payment time
Final walk-through. “This wasn’t finished.” Except it was, and they signed off in week 4. Sealed sign-offs settle it fast.
No. 04
Permit and inspection handoffs
City inspector finds an issue the homeowner was warned about. Without documentation, the contractor eats the fix. With Pactbound, the original disclosure is sealed and verifiable.
A real contractor dispute
What do I do when a client says they never authorized a change order?
Ray had been remodeling a kitchen in suburban Columbus for six weeks when the homeowner asked him to open the wall behind the range to check for moisture damage. Standing in the kitchen, Ray described the extra work (two days of demo, moisture remediation if needed, and repair) and the homeowner said to go ahead.
Four weeks later, the invoice came back with the change order line item disputed. The homeowner said she had never agreed to opening any walls. Ray had sealed the verbal approval from the job site using Pactbound: a two-sentence description of the change and the price, sent as a link she acknowledged with a one-time code the same afternoon.
The acknowledgment had a timestamp, her verified email, and Ray's description of the scope. There was nothing to dispute.
Ray got paid in full. He now seals every verbal change order on-site, the day it happens. The client gets a record too, which, he says, actually makes most clients more comfortable, not less.
“While you’re in there…” Seal it before
Verbal change orders are where the back-end fights start. Sixty seconds on the phone or on-site turns a he-said-she-said into a signed, timestamped record the client already acknowledged.
What you seal
Every change a client could later deny authorizing.
- Every verbal change order, sealed on-site
- Scope clarifications the moment they happen
- Punch-list sign-offs at each phase
- Material and spec approvals
- Disclosures the homeowner was warned about
- Final walk-through acceptance
Where the receipt does the work
One artifact, three places it pays off.
Court & small-claims ready
Identity-verified acknowledgments with an external timestamp are the kind of contemporaneous record a judge or arbitrator accepts: not screenshots reconstructed after the fact.
Chargeback & dispute evidence
Export a bundle as PDF and drop it straight into a Stripe, PayPal, or Square dispute: proof of delivery and proof of acceptance in one file.
Outlives the relationship
The receipt is anchored on a public ledger and verifiable with an open-source script. It holds up years later, with or without Pactbound.
Common questions
What contractors ask before sealing their first change order
- How do I get paid for a change order the client says they never authorized?
- A sealed Pactbound acknowledgment shows the date, the client's verified identity, and the exact scope they confirmed. If they're saying they never authorized something they acknowledged in writing on a specific date, that's not a scope dispute. It's a payment dispute with documentary evidence already on your side.
- What if a client refuses to sign anything on-site?
- You can seal a handoff and send it. The client receives a link and confirms their identity with a one-time code before they can view the details. Their receipt of the delivery is documented whether they formally acknowledge scope or not. Refusal to acknowledge doesn't erase the record of what was delivered.
- Will this hold up in small claims court?
- Sealed bundles carry a tamper-evident chain: identity verification, a delivery timestamp, file hashes, and an independent external timestamp anyone can confirm. Small claims judges see paper-thin 'he said she said' disputes constantly. A record with a timestamp that doesn't depend on your say-so is a different conversation. Whether it's admitted is up to the court in each case.
- What should I include in a change order bundle?
- The description of the change in plain language, any photos of the issue that prompted it, the price adjustment or labor estimate, and the timeline impact. Keep it specific. 'Add a 50-amp circuit for the detached garage, $1,400 materials and labor' beats 'extra electrical work.' Specificity is what makes the record useful.
Before your next bid
Seal the scope. Seal the changes. Settle the fight before it starts.
Seal your first change order Works on-site No legal fees